A Knight Without Armor
by OuterGoddesses
Summary: Haruka as a jouster who falls for Lady Michiru after an injury.


Title: A Knight Without Armor  
Author: Wind Water Time & Death  
E-mail: OuterGoddesses@yahoo.com  
Genre: Alternate Universe/Romance  
Rated: R  
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon & co. I'm just   
borrowing them for a line or 300.  
Authors: Please note the "R" rating and the word   
"Lemon"... and I don't mean the kind of lemon you   
put in your tea. Happy reading. ^_^  
  
  
A Knight Without Armor  
  
  
'Faster,' she thought, kicking the horse trying to   
make it go faster. 'Come on Gwen, we're almost   
there... almost...'  
  
"And Sir Tenou wins another one!" the game master   
announced once the crowd stopped cheering.  
  
Haruka pulled Lady Guinevere to a stop and took off   
her helmet. "That should teach you to challenge my   
Guinevere with that poor thing you have Sir Thomas,"   
Haruka teased.  
  
Sir Thomas bowed his head humbly and turned to the   
stables.  
  
"Now, who's for some jousting?" Haruka grinned.  
  
None of the courts people knew she was a woman,   
which was a good thing. If they knew they'd probably   
try to stuff her into one of horrid corsets and   
dresses. She shuttered as she remembered when her   
mother had tried to "feminize" her long ago...  
  
~@~Years Earlier~@~  
  
"Haruka, come back this instant!" her mother   
snapped, yanking the child back onto the stool. "You   
will finish the fitting or I'll have the smith come   
nail you to the stool."  
  
"But Mother," the ten year old complained. "Today is  
the day I take on the steward and squire in..."  
  
"And no more acting like a boy," her mother said   
sharply. "You are a lady, it's time you started   
acting like one."  
  
Haruka stood still, even when the seamstress would   
jab pins through her skin on accident. If there was   
anything she hated more, it was wearing dresses...   
she'd show them all someday, being a lady got you   
nowhere.  
  
Unless you were thrown in a lake, and then it'd   
quickly get you to the bottom...  
  
Later that day, Haruka stood in the greeting line   
beside her mother and father in a frilly pink dress   
and her long blonde piled and curled on top of her   
head. She drew her finger across her neck when she   
noticed the squire chuckling as he passed.  
  
But, victory was hers, she had slipped a pair of   
men's breeches on under her dress along with the   
proper hose and shoes. And her mother never knew...   
She'd show that squire something funny when the   
party was over...  
  
~@~End Flashback~@~  
  
Haruka chuckled as she remember the beating she gave   
the older squire after the party like it was   
yesterday... Her mother had locked her in her   
chamber for a month for doing so.  
  
The knights were beginning to assemble for the   
jousting matches.   
  
She caught the eyes of one of the ladies in the VIP   
box. The delicate young woman flushed lightly and   
looked away. Haruka could not resist, she removed   
one of the roses from Lady Guinevere's mane and took   
it to the aqua haired beauty.  
  
"A rose for the most beautiful damsel at court,"   
Haruka smiled. "But only if she gives me her name."  
  
The aqua-haired beauty smiled as she took the rose.   
"Lady Michiru Kaioh," she said softly. Michiru   
removed a peice of shimmering greeen silk from the   
bosom of her dress and handed it to Haruka. "Soak it  
in water before putting it under your helmet."  
  
Haruka gave the girl an odd look before retreating   
to the waiting area of the arena. She watched as   
several men got knocked off their horses or fainted   
from the heat. Unsurely, she soaked the silk in   
water then placed in on top of her head before   
putting on her helmet. The cool water seemed to   
refresh her a great deal...  
  
"Time to play somemore Lady Guinevere," Haruka   
laughed, mounting her horse.  
  
Guinevere snorted and stomped her hoof as if to say   
that she was ready. Haruka took the jousting rod and   
readied it for the competition.  
  
"Sir Haruka Tenou must dismount his opponent if he   
wants to win the games for today," the game master   
said. "The same goes for his opponent."  
  
Haruka lifted her hand in understanding. She was up   
against one of the greatest jousters in the known   
world... for once, she was nervous when at her   
sport.  
  
The horn blew and the two raced toward eachother.   
She gasped in shock when she felt her opponents   
jousting rod go through her armor. A sharp spike   
peirced her waist and broke off as she fell from her   
horse. "Guinevere..." she called. Her faithful mount   
nudged her cheek as her mind slipped into darkness.  
  
~@~@~@~  
  
Michiru touched the soft face that lay pale on her   
pillow. 'Her entire body is pale... I'm worried,'   
she thought, delicately tracing the lines of the dry   
lips. She snatched her hand away. What was she   
doing?!?!  
  
She wasn't supposed to touch another woman like   
that! A soft knock sounded at the door. Michiru   
quickly covered "Sir" Tenou with a blanket and ran   
to open the door.  
  
"I will tend to his injuries," Michiru assured,   
pushing the door closed while pulling in the pail of   
water.  
  
Odds were, no one knew that Haruka was a woman, so   
Michiru wasn't going to be the one that let them   
know. She soaked a cloth in the cold water and   
touched it too Haruka's face.  
  
Two small teal slits opened against the pale face.   
"Where... is... Guinevere," Haruka managed.  
  
"She in the castle stables Lady Tenou," Michiru   
whispered.  
  
"Lady?" Haruka coughed.  
  
"I know you are a woman... but I promise I will tell   
no one of this. But I do not wish to lie about what   
you are to your face."  
  
"Call me Haruka pretty lady," Haruka smiled weakly.   
"I promise I will repay the favor when I am able...   
If I am ever able..."  
  
"You will Haruka," Michiru whispered. "I promise,   
you will."  
  
The eyes softly closed again and Haruka's breath   
steadied as she fell asleep again.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
"I'll kill him, with my own bare hands," Haruka   
growled, pacing the room restlessly. She was feeling   
a need for speed... the kind she got when riding   
Lady Guinevere at a full gallop. But Michiru had   
flat our refused to let her out of the room.  
  
"Haruka, please lay back down," Michiru begged,   
putting a small hand around Haruka's bare waist.   
"You are still weak..."  
  
"Oh, I'm in perfect health my lady, I can assure you   
that," Haruka smiled, but still sat on the bed. She   
buried her nose in Michiru's soft hair and breathed   
in the scent that reminded her of the sea. "How   
about I prove it to you."  
  
Michiru jumped up and moved away a good space. She   
blushed slightly and turned away. "I had no idea you   
were in a bad way Lady Tenou," she said in a low   
voice.  
  
"I can't help it," Haruka smiled, trying to make out  
the soft curves of Michiru's body under the thin   
night rail she was wearing. "I have a reputation   
with the ladies though... a very good one at that."  
  
Michiru turned quickly, her eyes wide in surprise.   
"How... I mean, What... Then why doesn't anyone know   
you're a woman?"  
  
"Who said I had to get undressed to make-love to a   
woman?" Haruka grinned. "You are beautiful when you   
blush. And do not pretend, I've seen how you look at   
me my lady."  
  
Michiru's jaw dropped in shock then she composed   
herself. "I... I... I haven't been looking at you."  
  
"You haven't?" Haruka gazed into the bright,   
innocent, green eyes and gave a wicked grin.  
  
"I admit it... maybe once or twice..." the young   
woman admitted.  
  
Haruka smiled seductively. "Are you curious   
darling?" she said in a soft tone, patting the bed   
beside her temptingly.  
  
Michiru opened and closed her mouth as she struggled   
to find words to say. She mentally kicked herself   
for the words that managed to find their way out...   
"I'm getting married in a fortnight's time."  
  
Haruka's teal eyes lost their playful shine and she   
threw the covers over her head as she flung herself   
down on the down mattress.  
  
Michiru's heart leapt into her throat. She hadn't   
meant to say something that would hurt Haruka's   
feelings... But she had a feeling that she had just   
made a big mistake to their budding friendship...  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Haruka softly brushed Lady Guinevere soft coat with   
her head laid against her withers. The strong scent   
of the horse invaded her nostrils as she shared the   
moment with the source of her fame and fortune as   
"Sir" Haruka Tenou.  
  
Lady Guinevere had been a gift from her father, at   
the age of 13, the day before he had left on a   
journey with her mother. Niether of them returned   
alive... The Black Death had taken them while they   
were in London, England.  
  
Most of the memories of her father were fond... he'd   
taught her to ride at age three. Taught her to sword   
fight and joust at age six. He let her run amuk and   
act like a boy until her heart was content. He also   
squired Haruka at age 8 at Tenou Castle. After his   
death, Haruka had to work her own way up to   
knighthood.  
  
Sadly, though she loved her mother dearly, Haruka   
and Mistress Tenou never bonded. And Haruka's only   
memories of her mother were ones that involved   
spankings with a leather strap and threats of being   
nailed to the fitting stool because Haruka had out   
right refused to wear dresses as a child. Her last   
memory of her mother was the up-turn nose at the   
cropped off blond tresses Haruka had began to sport.  
  
"My Lady Guinevere," Haruka whispered, with a smile.   
"Run away with me, to a far off land... Where none   
except the wind knows of us..."  
  
The horse seemed to nod it's head, neighed, and   
snorted at remembering the day they left Tenou.  
  
"You remember the day to," Haruka laughed, patting   
the horse's withers. "Alas fair Guinevere, Lady   
Michiru says that I am not yet strong enough to   
leave... What do you say we prove her wrong?"  
  
Lady Guinevere nudged Haruka's arm with her nose.   
Haruka took the sign and hopped up onto Guinevere's   
bare back. Guinevere walked the path to the arena.   
Both seemed to hold their heads up to the strong   
wind that was accompanying the threatening rain   
storm.  
  
Haruka's over-sized shirt whipped around her small   
frame, threatening to reveal her true gender. But   
she didn't care. Better a life without dignity than   
one without the woman she loved. She pulled Lady   
Guinevere to a stop.  
  
"Love?" Haruka murmured. Did she actually love the   
one that had cared for her for the three months she   
had been stranded at Kaioh Castle? Haruka laughed   
when Guinevere gave a jealous snort. "No offense   
Gwen, but Lady Michiru has things you can't give   
me..."  
  
Haruka nudged Guinevere's sides to make her start   
walking a circle in the arena. Steadily, the two   
built their speed until it seemed they were racing   
the wind. Woman and horse were as one massive   
form... both challenging the wind to a race they   
knew they wouldn't win.  
  
"Faster Gwen," Haruka called. Guinevere obediantly   
began galloping faster without needing to have her   
sides nudged. Haruka closed her eyes and left her   
trust to Guinevere to lead them both safely.  
  
Haruka smiled into the wind... it felt like she was   
flying. She released her hold on Guinevere's mane   
and held her arms out like wings...  
  
"Tenou!"  
  
It happened so fast, that Haruka wasn't really sure   
what happened. All she knew was that she woke up in   
Michiru's bed with a massive headache. She looked up   
at Michiru's worried face and smiled the best she   
could.  
  
"Michiru..." She sat up and tried to touch the   
tearful face. Her hand passed through the porclein   
skin.  
  
"I'm so sorry Haruka," Michiru wailed, flinging   
herself onto the bed. "I didn't mean for it to   
happen..."  
  
Haruka stood up and turned to the bed. Michiru was   
laying across *her* body, sobbing. The face on the   
body was pale... deathly pale.  
  
"Haruka... if you come back... I love you Haruka,"   
Michiru cried. "Please come back to me..."  
  
Haruka felt her soul being snatched back into her   
body. She could feel Michiru laying across her   
chest. Taking a struggled breath, she started   
coughing. Michiru lifted her head and looked at her   
with tear-filled eyes and a faint smile on her pink   
lips.  
  
"Why do I always end up in your bed naked?" Haruka   
asked slowly.  
  
"I saw you riding and was angry that you hadn't   
listened to me..." Michiru sniffed. "So I went out   
there to stop you... I must have scared your horse,   
because she stopped really fast and you went flying   
through the air..." She hugged Haruka tightly. "I   
thought you had died..."  
  
"I've survived worse," Haruka lied, trying to make   
Michiru feel better. She opened her mouth to say   
something else, only to be stopped by Michiru's   
mouth on her own.  
  
Haruka held the aqua-haired woman flat against her   
body. Michiru was wearing her night rail again,   
Haruka could almost feel the soft body through the   
thin material between their two bodies. Finally   
Michiru sat back up and gazed into Haruka's eyes.  
  
Michiru had a soft smile on her lips as she untied   
the ribbon that held the front of her night rail   
closed. "Haruka..." she whispered.  
  
Haruka's eyes widened and she sat up. She didn't   
need any other encouragement... She pushed the rail   
down Michiru's long, but nicely muscled arms until   
it pooled around her waist. Her mouth watered as she   
gazed over the beautiful form of Michiru's body. Why   
did she feel so nervous? She had been with other   
women...  
  
Michiru pressed her body against Haruka's and the   
two of them shared a kiss filled with love and   
desire for eachother. Haruka laid back, pulling   
Michiru with her. Michiru's long silky legs framed   
Haruka's narrow hips as Haruka's hands slid up   
Michiru's soft back.  
  
Michiru's delicate fingers caressed Haruka's   
breasts. Haruka rolled and pressed Michiru into the   
down filled mattress. She pushed the bottom of   
Michiru's night rail up around her waist.   
  
Haruka's mouth trailed across Michiru's jaw, down   
her neck, and to her firm, round breasts. Haruka's   
tongue darted out to taste the salty skin and to   
tease the hardened nipples. "You like that Michiru?"   
Haruka asked with a husky voice.  
  
"Yes," Michiru sighed softly.  
  
"You taste like the sea..." Haruka smiled, nuzzling   
the soft orbs before kissing her way to Michiru's   
navel. She gently nibbled the flesh around the   
indention before lightly touching her tongue on the   
inside of Michiru's navel.  
  
For a moment, Haruka debated kissing further down.   
Instead, she kissed her way back up to Michiru's   
soft lips and sealed her mouth to Michiru's as she   
gently rubbed her area against Michiru's. A small   
sigh escaped Michiru's lips, encouraging Haruka to   
move against the other woman again.  
  
The two women clung to eachother tightly and moved   
against eachother in heated movements. Somewhere in   
the moment, the thin bed sheet somehow wrapped   
around their bodies, binding them together firmly.  
  
Michiru screamed out in pleasure and they moved to a   
place known only by lovers. Haruka lifted her head   
to take a breath and groan in satisfaction, then   
kissed Michiru again.  
  
"Michiru!" a shocked voice exclaimed.  
  
The two lovers stopped and looked at the older,   
refined woman that had entered the room without   
knocking.  
  
Michiru's eyes widened in surprise. "Mother... I I I   
can explain..."  
  
The woman scowled and left the chamber, slamming the   
door. The two lovers lay there, trying to recover   
from their love-making and the shock of being caught  
in the act.  
  
Outside, they heard Michiru's mother yell, "Gaurds!   
To my daughter's room instantly! That knight from   
Tenou Castle has defiled my daughter!"  
  
The two women gazed into eachother's eyes. Haruka   
gave Michiru a passionate kiss then quickly got   
dressed. "I'll come back for you," Haruka promised,   
kissing Michiru's hand.   
  
"Promise?" Michiru asked.  
  
"As long as the wind caresses the sea... I promise   
to be only yours my lady," Haruka whispered. The   
foot steps of the gaurds could be heard approaching   
the door. "I will return."  
  
"Haruka!" Michiru screamed, as Haruka jumped out of   
the window. She ran over and looked down, half   
afraid of what she would see...  
  
She saw nothing.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
"Now I know why you asked me not to marry you to   
Duke Authur," Mistress Kaioh growled.   
  
"Now I can't marry him," Michiru said hopefully.   
"I'm not..."  
  
"He could care less if you are still a maiden. How   
could you do this to me Michiru? Didn't I teach you   
better? And with that womanizing Haruka Tenou..."   
She scoffed as she looked at the bed sheets on   
Michiru's bed. "Or was he not the first?"  
  
Michiru's eyes took on a dreamy haze as she   
breathlessly replied, "Haruka is my one and only...   
my soul's partner."  
  
"I'm sure he made all the women believe such   
lies..."  
  
"But Haruka loves me!" Michiru cried.  
  
"He does? Did he tell you this everytime he ravished   
you... Or even once..."  
  
Michiru searched her memory. "No," she whispered.   
"But mother... I beg of you, do not make me marry   
that *old* man! Please, I swear, Haruka loves me and   
would willingly marry me..."  
  
Mistress Kaioh glared at her daughter. "In three   
night's time, you will marry the Duke. Or I will ask   
your father to cast you out of family!"  
  
Michiru crumbled to the floor as her mother left the   
room. "Haruka!" she cried.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Haruka turned on Lady Guinevere's bare back as she   
thought she heard the wind scream her name. The   
light of a candle shined out of Michiru's window.  
  
"Soon my love," she whispered. "I promise you, I   
will return soon."  
  
Water from the ocean splashed up and she put her   
mount back into a gallop. It wasn't fair, when she   
finally felt complete, she had lost her other half.   
She needed a plan, something to do in order to have   
Michiru... She licked the salty water off her lips   
and an idea came to her.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Michiru sighed heavily as she waited for the priest   
to go over the rites to seal her marriage to a man   
older than her grandfather. 'Where are you Haruka,   
why haven't you returned to me?' she thought.  
  
Her mother had deamed the beach worthy for the   
marriage ceremony, since the village didn't have a   
big enough church to hold all of her future   
husband's family.  
  
"Should anyone object... speak now."  
  
Michiru cast a frantic glance at her mother.   
Mistress Kaioh gave her a narrow-eyed glare.  
  
"So, with the power invested in me, in God and this   
church, I now pronounce you---"  
  
Everyone turned as the priest's words trailed off.   
Michiru smiled as she looked into the shining teal   
eyes. Haruka dismounted Guinevere and slowly walked   
toward the makeshift alter.   
  
"Gwen," Haruka said softly, pointing to the ground.   
The horse knelt down on it's front legs. The white   
blouse she wore blew in the wind and hung past her   
waist, almost hiding her men's knee breeches.   
  
Michiru had never seen her lover look so   
beautiful...  
  
"Gaurds!!!" Mistress Kaioh screamed. "Get him   
now!!!"  
  
Haruka smiled and held out her hand. "Michiru," she   
said, with a soft look in her eyes.  
  
Michiru quickly got to her feet and ran to Haruka's   
arms. "You came back!"  
  
"I'll just wisk this lovely sea nymph away from all   
of you now," Haruka grinned. She kissed Michiru,   
getting several shocked gasps from the wedding   
guests. The two ran to Guinevere. Michiru sat with   
both feet on one side of the massive horse. Haruka   
whistled and Guinevere climbed to her feet. Haruka   
jumped up and straddled Guinevere's back.   
  
"Of course I came back my love," Haruka smiled,   
kissing Michiru again. "I love you..."  
  
The gaurds were running from the castle, ready to   
arrest Haruka for disrupting the wedding.  
  
Haruka gave the guests a wink as she said, "Ja ne."   
She nudged Guinevere's sides and she galloped toward   
the only way out of the castle's outer gates... a   
narrow opening along the water. The horse bound   
through the surf and rounded the wall.  
  
Both women laughed in amusement when the water   
sprayed them as they raced along the water's edge,   
toward the sunset.  
  
~@~@~@~@~  
  
Ireland, a few weeks later...  
  
"I think it's perfect," Michiru whispered, leaning   
against Haruka with a soft sigh.  
  
They were astride on Lady Guinevere, over looking   
the ocean from a tall cliff. The wind carried in the   
scent of the ocean below up to them.  
  
"I had hoped you would like it," Haruka whispered in   
her ear.   
  
Michiru reached back and buried her fingers in   
Haruka's hair. "Your hair is starting to get long   
darling," she chuckled. "I love this place... I hope   
Tenou gives us mnay happy years."  
  
"It will love," Haruka promised. "I promise, it   
will."  
  
"Oh, did you hear that strange tale that the   
courtier told?" Michiru commented as they started   
back to the castle.  
  
"No, please share," Haruka smiled.  
  
"Apparently, a dashing young knight wisked the most   
beautiful woman in England away... He had sandy   
blond hair and teal eyes..."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes, but instead of him being a well-known jouster,   
he made his living by way of the lance..."  
  
"I love sharp objects... Well, except when they are   
used illegally in jousting matches..."  
  
Michiru put a finger over Haruka's lips. "They do   
not know his real name, so they call him Sir   
Lancealot. Because he used the lance... a lot. Duke   
Authur got promoted to King status, and the damsel's   
name was Guinevere..."  
  
"So I kidnapped the *king's* bride and diappeared   
with her now?" Haruka teased. "Though I think Gwen   
would love the idea of being upgraded to damsel   
status... Wouldn't you Lady Guinevere?"  
  
The horse snorted and shook her head in distaste.  
  
"One think is certain though..." Haruka sighed.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"I love you... and you're not a horse."  
  
"I'm flattered," Michiru laughed softly.  
  
"To the castle," Haruka ordered and Guinevere ran   
toward the tall stone castle close to the beach.  
  
  
The End.  
____________________________________________  
  
This fic is called "A Knight Without Armor" because:  
  
1. All the things that happen to Haruka out of her  
armor.  
  
2. It's said when people fall in love they lose their  
"armor" or the wall that separates them from the   
world.  
  
  
I hope you liked it. ^_^ 


End file.
